A Certain Finland — image of social conditions, life and ecology in Finland
The exhibition was organised by the Atelier 340 Museum from Brussels. It presented the current state of Finnish art, including objects, installations and sculptures. The selected set of works shown by the curators within the framework of A Certain Finland has created the newest image of social conditions, life and ecology in Finland. The cycle of exhibitions A Certain Finland was an unprecedented show in Poland which presented contemporary Finnish art. The most prestigious Polish art galleries have presented works by some outstanding Finnish artists:
Jussi Heikkilä,
Timo Heino,
Pekka Jylhä,
Kaarina Kaikkonen,
Kaija Kiuru,
Kaisu Koivisto,
Elina Lind,
Eero Markuksela,
Reima Nurmikko,
Jaakko Pernu,
Anni Rapinoja,
Anu Tuominen.
‘A Certain Finland’ — contemporary Finish art in BWA “Mikko Paakkola, a Finnish painter living in Brussels and the originator of the exhibition A Certain Finland, explained me the genesis of the...
‘We received two hundred portfolios in response to our call to artists, twenty of whom we were to visit during our week’s trip to Finland in August 2004. (...)
A subtle concord exists between the nature of the country and the nature of the Finns themselves.
Certain regional attitudes raise universal questions.
Finnish solitude — it must be this profoundly national trait that explains the absence of chairs for visitors in art studios…
This solitude (a reflection of the harsh climate) is undoubtedly reinforced by the standardisation of food production, which has led to the swallowing up of small stores (grocers, bakers, butchers) by large supermarkets. (...)
Nature (the forests and lakes) is omnipresent, unlike in most other European countries. The silence of this nature is also something that manifests itself in the character, the somewhat masochist, silent suffering, of the Finns. For 20 years, Mikko Paakkola has been insisting on the similarities with Japan. In Finland, like Japan, silence speaks volumes. ‘We have to understand the silence of the other’. Eero Markuksela draws a direct parallel between ancient Japanese tradition and contemporary life in Finland.
As our encounters progressed, the themes were to emerge ‘naturally’. Our keenest interest lay in the relationship with nature itself, with natural, unprocessed, or barely transformed elements, as opposed to those that are manufactured. We found ourselves confronted with issues similar to those encountered in 1985, with the exhibition ‘Animal and Vegetable in Contemporary Belgian Art’. Yet the position of Belgian artists tends to be more individualist, more active than that of the Finns, which is more solitary, more passive. Many artists ask questions about the relationship between humanity and nature, between humans and animals. (...)’
Henri van de Leemput, Mikko Paakkola, Wodek
(piece of curator's text)
